Is Scottie Scheffler playing in Wells Fargo Championship 2024? Availability explored

Scottie Scheffler is eligible to compete in this week's Wells Fargo Championship. He will not, however, be part of it. With the impending birth of his first child, he is taking time off. The 27-year-old last played in the RBC Heritage and won, but he's been inactive since and will not be returning to action this weekend.

The baby is expected sooner rather than later, which is why Scheffler isn't bothering with going to the tournament. He went to the Masters knowing he might have to withdraw to be with his wife Meredith. He ended up staying and winning, but as more time passes, the chances of a withdrawal are higher and he's just skipping out.

With that said, Scheffler is far from stepping away from competition. He admitted after The Masters Tournament win, his second of his career, that his priorities would be shifting with a new member of his family, but that he still wants to compete.

Via Golf Digest, he said:

"I will definitely enjoy the birth of my first child. But with that being said, I still love competing. My priorities will change here very soon. My son or daughter will now be the main priority, along with my wife, so golf will now be probably fourth in line.

"But I still love competing. I don't plan on taking my eye off the ball anytime soon, that's for sure."

Scheffler is in the midst of an absolutely dominant run. He has four wins in five starts and the lone "failure" during that stretch was a T2 at the Houston Open, and he barely missed a putt that could've sent it to a playoff.

However, his winning ways will be on hold this weekend. They will likely resume sometime after his child is born, which has not happened yet.

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Will Scottie Scheffler play the PGA Championship?

The PGA Championship is the second Major on the golf schedule. That means it is one person's chance to continue working towards a Grand Slam, something no modern player has ever done. This year, that opportunity falls to Scottie Scheffler.

Winning one Major is just a quarter of what any Grand Slam aspirant has to do in a single year. This is why it hasn't been done by anyone in the modern era of golf. This is also what makes the PGA Championship so important. Since it's second, the Grand Slam quest can continue or fall apart.

Scottie Scheffler might return for the PGA Championship.

Scheffler hasn't withdrawn yet. He's in the field by virtue of automatically qualifying, but the birth of his child may interrupt that. It remains to be seen what he will do, but if nothing changes, he will play.

Sportsbooks, according to Golf Digest, have Scheffler at 40-1 to win the Grand Slam this year, and it starts next weekend. Per CBS Sports, he has tremendous odds of winning at Valhalla, too, placed at 3-1.

The next closest is Jon Rahm, who is 10-1 to take home a trophy, so Scheffler is by far the favorite and will likely remain so if he doesn't have to withdraw.